Two-thirds of the adult population in the United States is classified as overweight or obese. As an active individual, you may not be inflating this statistic, but taking steps to achieve an ideal body weight can lead to improved performance on the bike. Based on the most relevant literature and work I’ve done with athletes over the years, here are some of the biggest keys to success.

Monitor Intake and Output
Be it age-groupers or professionals, most successful athletes don’t let randomness guide their training efforts. They create a meticulous plan of attack and execute accordingly. You need to know what’s fueling the machine and how much you’re burning. Use a program like Training Peaks or app like Lose It to track your caloric intake and output.

Keep a Food Journal
Individuals who lose weight and keep it off also employ a food journaling system, much like athletes keep a training diary. Record everything you eat and drink, time of day, and approximate amount. Review the data once a week. Two things happen with this exercise. First, the act of recording your food intake is a mode of accountability. Writing things down in black and white may trigger a response when you’re reaching for that second serving of ice cream or third glass of wine. Next, when you do your weekly review, it will be easier to spot problem areas in your diet. Are you running low on fuel in the morning, eating too much processed food, or eating too many of your calories late in the day? You don’t have to be a nutritionist to catch the error of your ways.

Watch Caloric Density
Many processed foods are filled with sugar, salt, and fat, the trio I refer to as the perfect storm. Foods like crackers, chips, and cream-based dressings stimulate the pleasure center of the brain and compel you to eat beyond the point of satiety. Many of these foods are also quite calorically dense, which means they contain a large number of calories in a small volume of food. It takes 250 to 400 calories of vegetables to fill our stomachs, but 3,500 to 4,000 of meat, dairy, or oils to fill the same space. Foods like nuts, seeds, and avocados contain a large number of nutrients, but are also calorically dense and should be eaten in moderation.

Measure Body Composition
Weight, which includes lean muscle mass as well as fat, can be a misleading number. Improve your body composition, and the weight will take care of itself. Get a scale like the Tanita Ironman BC554 to track your weight and percentage of body fat. Professional cyclists have body-fat percentages around 6 to 8 percent (10 to 15 percent for female riders). Amateurs and weekend warriors should aim for 12 to 18 percent (males) or 15 to 24 percent (females). Losing too much weight doesn’t always improve body composition, and may negatively impact cycling performance.

Track Your Power-to-Weight Ratio
One of the holy grails of cycling performance is your power-to-weight ratio. When watts go up or weight moves closer to an ideal body composition, performance goes up right along with it. Use a bike-mounted power meter or stationary trainer like the Watt Bike to perform a field test every 8 to 10 weeks. Find a 3- or 4-mile, uninterrupted stretch of road where you can repeat your test in similar conditions (time of day, temperature, state of rest, etc.). Following a warm up, time trial at your maximum sustainable pace for 10 minutes, recording your power and heart rate average and max. Divide your average watts number by your body weight in kilograms to determine your power to weight ratio. When your training plan, weight loss, and body composition are all in sync, your power to weight ratio will improve.